I thought you could all use a break from the announcement of some great Lammy winners to munch on some tasty trailer tid bits. We got some exciting new ones this week as well as some older ones that have played a few festivals but haven’t gotten a wider release just yet. Let me know what you think about this week’s picks and I will be back in 2 weeks from today.

The Butler. 10/18/2013

Forrest Whitaker plays the role of a servant at the white house who has seen all sorts of important historical events. All from the days of slavery up until the daysof Ronald Regan. Now, I am no expert when it comes to history, but slavery ended around the time of Lincoln in the late 1800s. This movie seems to go way past the 1960′s. That is a long time for anyone to live much less this main character. So how come in this trailer The Butler never looks like he ages much. This has a great cast of actors who are playing historical figures but I never knew who they were playing until I looked them up. Alan Rickman looks nothing like Ronald Regan and the same thing goes for John Cusack as Richard Nixon. James Marsden is the only actor who looks somewhat like JFK.

Ender’s Game. 11/01/2013

The government enlists children to help fight a war against aliens in this adaptation of the sci-fi book. Having never read the orignal source material I have no clue on how accurate this is, but it looks cool. Harrison Ford looks really bad ass in this, and Asa Butterfield(“Hugo“) has proven that he can be the lead in a film before. The only thing that worries me and it’s a small concern. Gavin Hood is directing this project and the last big budget film he helmed was “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” I’m willing to give him another try with this one, but he better not fail again.

Girl Most Likely. 07/19/2013

Kistin Wigg plays a successful playwright who has a nervous break down and is then forced to live with her out of control mother(Annette Benning) and her boyfriend(Matt Dillon). Yes folks it’s another one of these films that I am now dubbing the term”Middle Age White Woman Problems”. These are the tales that feature an attractive woman who may have lost their job or boyfriend and belive their whole world is at an end. These stories usually show these women come from a dysfunctional family and then through a bunch of wacky hijinks learn to love who they are. Well guess what, we all come from a dysfunctional family in some sorts. It doesn’t make you special. I did think it was fitting that near the end of this preview they played a song that featured the lyrics “I don’t care”. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Downloaded. No release date yet

This is the documentary that chronicles the rise and fall of the music sharing program known as Napster. But it also shows us how it helped change the music industry so much throughout the years. I would like to give praise to innovators like Napster and Limewire for paving the ways for servicers like Spotify and other online music programs to give listeners easier ways to check out the songs they love and in turn get them to check out newer acts as well.

Violet & Daisy. 06/07/2013.

Alexis Bledel and Saorise Ronan play two teenage assassins whose latest target (James Gandolfini) gives them some unsuspected problems. I’m happy to see Miss Ronan hold a gun again like she did before in “Hanna” and the same thing goes for Miss Bledel. She hasn’t been in a stylized action flick since “Sin City“. However this does not look like the type of movie I was expecting. It looked like I would be seeing these girls in some kick ass gun play,but the action seems to be more downplayed for a more dramatic storyline instead. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing and this could be very good. It just doesn’t hold my appeal like it once did.

Twenty Feet From Stardom. No release date yet

This is the true tale of some very important back up singers to some very legendary rock acts. It can’t be easy to be on stage with these musicians and have people cheer for you, but at the end no one knows what your name is. I always thought Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in The Sky” was amazing but I never knew who sang the vocals. I’m glad this documentary gives praise to other great singers like this and other ones too.

I didn't want to slag on anyone's picks in my commentary, but the biggest stunner to me was actually Dogma in the first round. I love Dogma, think it's an underrated satire, and would have happily picked it... in round 3.

Your roster is damn strong. I don't care for Chasing Amy, but it was a no-brainer pick at that point. The only reason I shied away from Saving Private Ryan and True Grit is that I don't think of those as "Matt Damon movies"... and even then, I'd grab True Grit over Contagion if I could do it over again.

If I lose this with the best War film ever made...A Coen Bros Western...A Kevin Smith classic...The highest reviewed and grossing Bourne film...A top ten romantic of the decade...AND GOOD WILL FRIGGIN' HUNTING!!!!....I will just retire from drafting because I don't know anything.

I think it makes more sense than you give it credit for. I'm not gonna go pick by pick, but I think the general thinking was to get (good) films that prominently featured one or both of them first. And sure - Damon might be 4th or 5th-most prominent in O11, but it's still an ensemble and there are still good films that star one or the other that went first. If it was "just take the best movie!," something like Private Ryan would go first.
As for you and Rounders and Shakes in Love - it's clear to me that you're just anti-American. :D